They Say I Must Be Blind
by Taylor Hayes
Summary: AU oneshot. Pav never died, Kurt never sang Blackbird, Blaine never figured out how he felt about Kurt and now that he's at McKinley, he can't figure out why everyone is so interested in his nonexistent love life, when he'd rather spend time with his best friend than look for a boyfriend. Oblivious!Blaine, eventual Klaine.


**They Say I Must Be Blind**

It was kind of absurd how many people seemed to have a vested interest in who he was dating, and Blaine couldn't help wondering what that was all about.

Seriously, every time he visited Dalton or called any of the Warblers, the first thing they would ask was if he was seeing anyone. And that just seemed silly. He was waiting for the right person, and whoever they were he hadn't found them yet. Besides, he'd rather spend time with his best friend any day than try to navigate the world of high school dating.

Last year had been a strange one, with meeting Kurt. And he had been so excited when the other teen transferred. Yes, the reason was scary and horrible, but it was seriously neat to be able to get up each morning knowing that his best friend would be at school with him the whole day. He'd thought things were going really well until, just before the tie breaker between the Warblers and New Directions for Regionals, Kurt announced that he was going back to McKinley. Blaine tried to protest, tried to convince him to stay. The older boy had an answer for every worry, though. He didn't mind the general bullying as much, he needed to face the "real world" again, Santana (the scary Hispanic girl) had apparently done _something_ to force Karofsky to not only be nice to Kurt but to protect him as well, and countertenor missed his old friends.

In private, it had been quietly admitted that Kurt loved the Dalton curriculum and boys, and he loved spending time with Blaine, but he also felt like he was compromising too much. Blaine had been shocked when Kurt pointed out that the private school had managed, through polite peer pressure, what none of his tormentors ever had: changing him to fit in, even if it meant he wasn't himself anymore.

When Kurt left, Blaine had been off his game and had blown Regionals. He wasn't the only one who had been messed up by the abrupt departure – Pavarotti had also suffered. The bird had been a little terror, pecking everyone who came near, never singing, never eating, and never even fluttering his wings. Eventually, Wes had unhappily decided to break tradition, fearful that if nothing was done the bird would end up dead. A quick call to Kurt, who had sounded anxious and worried and so happy when Wes admitted what was going on before asking the boy to officially adopt the feathered warbler, and Pav at least got to be with Kurt again on a daily basis.

Blaine, on the other hand, did not.

The next school year was a few weeks away when he broached the subject with his parents. They had been scared and unhappy, fearful for his safety and his mother kept muttering something about Kurt and that obliviousness must run in the family. He gave them a list of reasons (ones he had mostly stolen from his friend), and eventually they agreed. It wasn't until the first day of school that the change was official, and he had been able to convince the cheerleaders (Who were apparently called "cheerios", which was very odd…) to perform a number with him.

The general applause had been lost behind the bright smile on Kurt's face. And being at McKinley meant that they could spend all their spare time together again. Kurt was a senior, while Blaine was only a junior, but they still shared a few classes, like the Creative Writing one, and they were the ex-Warbler's favorites.

So, really, why couldn't everyone understand that he preferred to be around Kurt as much as he could before the year ended and the other boy flew off to New York to wow the world, instead of trying to find himself a boyfriend?

He wondered if the rest of New Directions had been pointing out to Kurt how much time they spent together, or had said something about Blaine needing a boyfriend though, or maybe even Kurt was mad that Blaine had taken over his social life, because lately he had been cancelling on Blaine a lot. He said something about needing to work things out in his own head, needing to "accept the inevitable", and then had apologized profusely. For a week, Blaine only saw his best friend in classes where the older teen made it a point not to talk to him, and besides that it was like Kurt had learned to vanish. And somehow it was all set off by Mr. Schuester's assignment for the week: _truth_.

Blaine was really starting to miss Kurt, and couldn't figure out the right song to sing to convince Kurt to talk to him again. He'd been trying to be more careful about lyrics and what songs meant since Rachel had finally sat him down to give him a lecture about "unintentional eroticism", and he could only assume Kurt had mentioned the GAP Attack. He had gotten over his discomfort from the brief period spent dating Rachel, so they were close enough friends now that he listened to the girl and asked her advice about the song.

The first few he considered were all songs he thought sounded great. There were a couple that he realized would only work as a duet, like _Lucky_ and _Friends and Lovers_. So he made a list of the others and brought them to Rachel.

She had read it once, laughed, and then asked if he paid any attention to the lyrics _at all_. When he insisted he had, she pointed to each song and repeated lines from them.

_Realize_ by Colbie Callait. _If you just realized what I just realized, then we'd be perfect for each other and will never find another._

_Maybe I'm Amazed_ by Paul McCartney. _Baby, I'm amazed at the way you love me all the time. Maybe I'm afraid of the way I love you._

_I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing_ by Aerosmith. _Then I kiss your eyes and thank God we're together. I just want to stay with you in this moment forever._

_You Belong With Me_ by Taylor Swift._ Think I know where you belong; think I know it's with me._

_Complicated_ by Carolyn Dawn Johnson. _They say I'm more than just a friend, they say I must be blind._

_Could It Be_ by Christy Carlson Romano._ Could it be, suddenly I'm falling for you? Could it be, you were right here beside me and I never knew?_

_How Do I Get There_ by Deana Carter. _How do I tell you what my heart's been telling me? Lost in your loving arms, that's where I want to be. You know I love you._

By the end, Blaine was even more confused and annoyed, and Rachel was asked him flat out if there was something else he was trying to say with the song. He scowled, insisting that he just wanted to convince Kurt to talk to him again.

The next day in glee, Blaine was still trying to figure out why none of those songs would work. They each fit how he felt about Kurt almost perfectly. After all, Kurt was his best friend and the most important person in the world to him. But Rachel had ended the night by warning him not to sing any of them "unless you really, completely mean _and_ understand them".

Then Kurt got up to the front of the room, cleared his throat, stared straight at Blaine and said he was "giving up. Utterly."

Blaine didn't get it, didn't get why half the room was glaring at him, and the other half was watching Kurt with sad eyes.

Then the music started, the song as different from Kurt's normal repertoire as possible, and the voice that emerged from his best friend's open mouth was not the normal, lovely soprano-worthy sound. This was gritty, a low alto, and Kurt held himself like he had been beat up while the words poured out of him.

"_White knuckles and sweaty palms from hanging on too tight. Clenched shut jaw. I've got another headache again tonight. Eyes on fire, eyes on fire and they burn from all the tears. I've been crying, I've been crying, I've been dying over you. Tie a knot in the rope, trying to hold, trying to hold. But there's nothing to grasp so I let go!_

"_I think I've finally had enough. I think I maybe think too much. I think this might be it for us. Blow me one last kiss. You think that I'm not serious; I think you're full of it. My head is spinning so blow me one last kiss._

"_Just when it can't get worse, I've had a shit day. Have you had a shit day? We've had a shit day. I think that life's too short for this. I want back my ignorance and bliss. I've think I've had enough of this, so blow me one last kiss._"

Blaine didn't understand, and he didn't get why Kurt was focusing such an angry, unhappy song at Blaine. Then Brittany whispered to Santana, "Why is my dolphin mad?" And the other cheerleader's answer made Blaine's head spin.

"Because Hummel loves the hobbit, who's an idiot and keeps stringing Porcelain along without so much as a good make out session."

He didn't hear Brittany's answer, he didn't hear anything except the rest of the song and that tone in Kurt's singing that suggested he was trying to rip something out of himself.

"_I will do what I please, anything that I want. I will breathe, I will breathe, I won't worry at all. You won't pay for your sings, but you'll be sorry my dear. All the lies, all the why's will be crystal clear!_

"_I think I've finally had enough. I think I maybe think too much. I think this might be it for us. Blow me one last kiss. You think I'm not that serious, I think you're full of it. My head is spinning so blow me one last kiss._

"_Just when it can't get worse, I've had a shit day. Have you had a shit day? We've had a shit day. I think that life's too short for this. I want back my ignorance and bliss. I've think I've had enough of this, so blow me one last kiss._

"_Blow me one last kiss. Blow me one last kiss._

"_Just when it can't get worse, I've had a shit day. Have you had a shit day? We've had a shit day. I think that life's too short for this. I want back my ignorance and bliss. I think I've had enough of this. Blow me one last kiss._"

And suddenly Blaine got it.

If everyone knew that Kurt was in love with him (because, seeing how much that had hurt the boy, it couldn't be denied), and they thought that Blaine knew but wasn't doing anything about it…

Thinking back, Blaine was suddenly aware of a million little things he had done. He was always the one who instigated hand-holding, or cuddling while they watched a movie. He sang flirty duets with Kurt all the time. He insisted on paying when they went out for coffee or dinner or a movie.

And speaking of coffee, every trip they'd made together to the Lima Bean, to the outside world, would look like a date. The _You've Got Mail_ reference last Valentine's, how angry Kurt was when Blaine tried dating Rachel, all the hints and innuendo the Warblers were always texting him.

Blaine never meant to lead Kurt on. And now he'd broken his heart.

That idea, of Kurt with his heart in pieces, made Blaine abruptly unable to breathe.

He never wanted Kurt to be in pain, he never wanted Kurt to be in danger, he never wanted Kurt out of his life. Kurt was more important than anyone or anything, and Blaine knew he would always pick his best friend over anyone else, no matter who they were.

And it suddenly occurred to Blaine that, "Oh my God, I'm in love with you."

"WHAT?" The exclamation rang through the room, and each member of the show choir had a different opinion, and Blaine was never going to hear the end of this from anyone, and none of that mattered because Kurt-

Kurt was pale, but there were spots of color high in his cheeks. Those amazing, ever-changing eyes were bright and scared and ecstatic.

Blaine crossed the room, speaking quickly, "God, I am such an idiot, and why didn't I see it before, because I've been looking for someone forever, but it's been you all along, and I love you and-"

Then his best friend (and the boy he was _head over heels in love with!_) pulled him into a kiss that blew Blaine's mind.

Neither he nor Kurt heard Rachel's triumphant inference that "everything can be solved with a song!" or Puck's shocked reply that "that actually works sometimes?"

When Kurt finally moved away, parting their lips from one another and he whispered that that had been "the perfect first kiss"; Blaine beamed and hugged him tight.

And decided that, even if it was a little cruel, the Warblers would just have to find out what happened the same way as the rest of the world:

Facebook.


End file.
